Taunton's Finest: Student Feature

17 years had passed since Taunton student David Ruskey had purchased textbooks or sat down to write a paper.  After earning his associate degree right out of high school, David decided to take some time off from school and found himself beginning his career as a police officer in Norton, where he has now worked for many years.

The desire to earn his bachelor’s degree, however, never left him. 

While on duty this summer, David drove past our new building at 101 Industrial Park Drive and noticed the Bay State College “coming soon!” sign.  Having tried to go through the application process before at larger schools like UMASS, David had become discouraged at how impersonal his experience had been.   

“Everything was done online and through email,” David says.  “I didn’t talk to one live person who could answer my questions.”

Despite this negative experience at other schools, he decided to give Bay State a call. 

“Renae, my admissions counselor, picked up the phone and within days I was sitting down to talk with her one on one about how I could make this work.  I was able to relate to her really well because she also went through the process of going back to school, and is a Bay State College graduate herself.”

David was able to transfer about 75% of his associate degree credits, and in his first term as a Criminal Justice student has already been celebrated for his academic achievements at our honors ceremony. 

“I definitely appreciate the value of all of this so much more now than I did right out of high school,” he says. “It’s a great feeling to learn something in class one day and then have it come to mind while you’re at work.  It makes me feel like I’m exactly where I need to be.”